Condiment dispensing system utilizing a draw-back valve
AssigneeAutomatic Bar Controls, Inc.
InventorsRichard A. Martindale, Antonio J. Jepson, Charles Bennett, Juha Salmela
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a condiment dispensing system for dispensing condiment and the like which includes a gas operated pump for moving condiment(s) from a condiment source to a delivery nozzle through a condiment conduit which includes a draw-back valve to prevent condiment buildup on the delivery nozzle. A gas-operated pump is controlled at the delivery nozzle to effect delivery of the condiment.
Claims14
A condiment dispensing system comprising a source of condiment;
- a gas driven pump for moving said condiment;
- a conduit connecting the source of condiment with said pump;
- a source of gas under pressure;
- a delivery nozzle having at least one gas inlet and at least one gas outlet, a valve in said delivery nozzle for controlling gas flow therethrough and at least one passageway for flowing condiment therethrough, first gas conduit means connecting said source of gas with the gas inlet of said nozzle, second gas conduit means connecting the gas outlet of said delivery nozzle with said pump;
- a delivery conduit connecting the pump to said delivery nozzle for delivering condiment to said delivery nozzle from said pump;
- and a draw-back valve operably connected on said delivery conduit, said draw-back valve being separate and spaced from said pump and comprising a housing having a condiment entry port coupled to said pump via a portion of said delivery conduit and a condiment exit port coupled to said delivery nozzle via another portion of said delivery conduit.
A condiment dispensing system comprising a rack for holding a source of condiment having an outlet port;
- a gas driven pump having a condiment inlet and a condiment outlet and a gas inlet for operating said pump;
- conduit means connecting the outlet port of the source of condiment with the condiment inlet of said pump;
- a source of gas under pressure;
- a delivery nozzle having at least one gas inlet and at least one gas outlet, a valve in said delivery nozzle for controlling gas flow therethrough and at least one passageway for flowing condiment therethrough, first gas conduit means connecting said source of gas with the gas inlet of said nozzle, second gas conduit means connecting the gas outlet of said delivery nozzle with the gas inlet of said pump;
- a delivery conduit connecting the passageway of said delivery nozzle with the condiment outlet of said pump;
- and a draw-back valve operably connected on said delivery conduit, said draw-back valve comprising a housing having a housing cavity, a condiment entry port for receiving condiment from a portion of said delivery conduit, and a condiment exit port for dispensing condiment to another portion of said delivery nozzle;
- a valve stem disposed in said housing cavity and movable between an open position and a closed position, said valve stem disposed away from said condiment entry port to permit condiment flow through said housing cavity between said condiment entry port and said condiment exit port in said open position, said valve stem blocking said condiment entry port and drawing a vacuum in a portion of said housing cavity between said condiment entry port and said condiment exit port when moved to said closed position.
A method of dispensing condiment from a condiment source comprising the steps of providing a delivery conduit from said condiment source to an open delivery nozzle, providing a gas-operated pump operatively connected to said source of condiment;
- connecting said pump to a source of gas through said delivery nozzle, providing a gas control valve on said delivery nozzle to control gas flow to said pump whereby opening said gas control valve causes flow of gas to said pump causing condiment to flow through said delivery conduit and out of said delivery nozzle;
- and providing a draw-back valve on said delivery conduit, said draw-back valve operable by a piston stroke to simultaneously block flow of condiment into said drawback valve and produce a vacuum in said delivery conduit when said gas control valve is closed to stop gas flow to said pump, whereby condiment is sucked back from said delivery nozzle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.